Featured Artist: Beatahoe

What's up everyone?? For this Wednesday I have the pleasure of bringing you something a bit different. Following our review of Boxguts' release with DJ Kryptonite, one of his affiliates / homies got in touch with me hoping to draw some attention to his work. His name is Beatahoe, who I'd previously been familiar with for his music with Boxguts on their chaotic masterpiece Apocalyptic Hunger, and didn't know much else about him.

I wasn't aware at the time of the impressive body of work Beatahoe's managed to put together. He's done albums with a wide variety of rappers within the hardcore and horrorcore genres, from Jak Tripper and Labal-S (of BMC) all the way to Bronze Nazareth. He gave me the chance to check out his EP Mudwork, with the aforementioned emcee Jak Tripper on vocals. I found it just as unsettling, discordant and hard hitting as his work with Guts. Any fan of underground horrorcore should be a fan of this dude, I highly recommend looking into his production efforts. Check out his Bandcamp here, you can get individual releases or the whole lot for only CA$6.40!

Anyway, I had some questions for him. Here's an interview type deal.

Dimxsk: What's up dude? So first off, where’d the name come from?

Beatahoe: I was in studio one day and my friend who played keyboards called me "Beatahoe". We both laughed so hard, and I had to find a name quick because I was about to release a project. So I decided it was going to be Beatahoe.

Dimxsk: I see you take Canadian dollars on Bandcamp, but your location is Issaquah, WA. Where are you based?

Beatahoe: I currently live in a small, isolated mining city 12 hours Northeast from Montreal, Quebec. I put a random location (on Bandcamp) and my email does not function because I'd rather do all the artist reaching, promo etc. by myself.

Dimxsk: That sounds difficult! How do you make sure artists get to hear your work?

Beatahoe: I always use the same method. I hear a rapper with mega talent and I reach out through Hotmail, or my fake Facebook account. I usually reach people who are not too famous, and are on the meal ticket run like me. If they seem interested I always try to get them on the phone. That's my trick to know if they are serious or not. If they can't give you five minutes on the phone then you should always move on. You need to know if they have time or not to work. You should always keep your energies for concrete projects and not waste any creative time.

Dimxsk: Good advice! So what type of music / rap do you consider your influences? What did you grow up listening to?

Beatahoe: My influences as far as rap goes are sooo varied. I like all types. I really like anything Alchemist or DJ Muggs or Madlib do. I also really like RZA and EL-P as well.  For rappers, I like RZA as well, and all sorts of other types of rappers.  I grew up listening to punk rock, then I got into scratching and the transition to rap was made! I always liked the beats, they just calmed me down. I like the characters behind the music as well because that's so interesting to me.

Dimxsk: I get that about the beats, I was mostly into alternative rock as a kid, but making music I started noticing how intricate and creative even sampled beats could be. I feel like hip hop offers the opportunity for experimentation and versatility that's difficult (but not impossible) to find in rock music. Rap's arsenal of sounds and styles is pretty much unlimited. Anyway, characters? That sounds interesting!

Beatahoe: Yeah, Jak Tripper and Boxguts are real interesting characters. I talked with Jak twice on the phone. I actually just met Boxguts in New York, I feel like I've gotten to know Boxguts a little bit and he's an interesting artistic alien and friend. Jak I don't know at all but he's so ill though with the vocals and the beats. I'd really like to make him more heat. I spoke to Gore Elohim on the phone once, and that was really interesting because I'm a huge fan. He gave me a number and that number was disconnected after. Felt like I talked to the Overlord!! Gore is sooo ill to me. 

Dimxsk: Haha nice. I see you did an album with him, it's up on Bandcamp now. One thing I've been wondering is how to characterize all of your work. What would you call your style?

Beatahoe: I don't really have a style because I like to be stimulated, so it's hard for me to do the same kinds of releases over and over again. I'd say my style is a lil' obscure because I don't follow trends or anything. I just do the beats and once rappers select them then I like to get real anal with the beats and try to make them stronger.

Dimxsk: It shows, I emailed with Boxguts a bit during your STD-Free Androida Hoe period about your sound. Your beats are very unique, and it sounds like you do manage to keep the spirit of collaboration alive even long distance to craft them. What’s the most interesting experience you’ve had so far, working with rappers?

Beatahoe: Most experiences I've had with artists are all online so I never really got to be in the studio with anyone. So I don't really know anyone personally. I hate bothering people too, so I figure the time will come for the studio and in the mean time I'mma keep sending out stems!

Dimxsk: What does your creative process look like? Do you work with analog turntables, MIDI only, samples...?

Beatahoe: I need the studio to be a creative place. I move a lot so I love to get different energies from different places. I need the place I live in to be real clean. I need green tea close! I have an MPC 5000, Roland MC 909, Roland JV 1080, Nord keyboard and Pro Tools set up. I don't really sample much anymore cause that bores me. I still have an MPC filled with sampled beats, I'd just rather make beats without samples for now. That changes though!

Dimxsk: Bro, in college green tea was my sh*t. Better, and healthier than Adderall, lot's of my papers wouldn't have been written without it. So who are you listening to now?

Beatahoe: Lil Eto and DJ Muggs, Alchemist, Jak Tripper, Gore Elohim, Ill Bill and lots of radio shows.

Dimxsk: What's in the works at the moment?

Beatahoe: Well, Beatahoe was supposed to go cross country skiing today but he decided to work on a new project instead. The project is for Boxguts and Carmine Moth. Beatahoe should be trying to make Drake beats, but instead works with real slimey talented artists, who are on the meal ticket road.  This release is going to be real weird, just like all my other releases! I just bounced 10 beats from my MPC 5000 and mastered them on LANDR and then sent the beats to the artists. They wanted 4 of them so know I need to find the last 2 beats. When ever I do a project I complete all the beats at the same time. It takes me 2-3 weeks to get them to sound how I want them in my whip then I send them out.  It's a really weird process, I feel like my life is on hold until I get the joints done. I send the skeleton beats then if they like those then I really get to work. I'mma have this one done in 2 weeks. I always give myself deadlines to stay productive and I always like to have one project on the go all the time!

Dimxsk: What's in Beatahoe's brain? Now you know.

The music video below is the lead single from Apocalyptic Hunger, and gives you a good feel for the weird creativity Beatahoe displays behind the boards:

Anyway that's it for today, thank you to Beatahoe for taking the time to reach out and provide thoughtful answers! See you guys Friday!

Note: Trylemma and I came up with this featured artist idea to suit this particular post, but I've had fun doing it. We'd be happy to do interview type deals with other lesser known musicians, anyone interested should get in touch with me via the contact form.